On weekends, the staff of the capital's libraries tell you which books are worth reading with the little ones and which ones to discuss with the older ones. Head of Children's Library 40 Irina Timchishina, who is raising four children, has chosen new and old books that will appeal to young readers with a wide variety of interests.
Toddlers
"The Snow Dream" by Eric Karl
For the youngest, first of all, I would like to recommend a book by the American writer Eric Karl about a farmer who is very similar to our Santa Claus. Despite the fact that the action takes place on New Year's Eve, it is interesting to read it even now. Why not return to the New Year's fairy tale?
The book must be read together and out loud. On the last page, the main magic awaits you: you will need to count from five to one with your child and press the button. I would also like to say about the illustrations - they were made by the author himself. Bright pictures can be viewed endlessly.
A series of books "Mulle Mek - a skillful man" by Georg Johansson
A series of books by the Swedish writer Georg Johansson tells about the remarkable inventor Mulla Meck and his faithful friend Buffa the dog. As a mother of four children, I can say that they will be closer, probably, to boys who like to assemble, disassemble, design. However, girls often like these games too.
Lovely, funny, interesting stories from the life of the inventor Mulla Meck are accompanied by very beautiful illustrations. Considering them will definitely please not only kids, but also their parents.
Older guys
"Transsib: the train departs" by Alexandra Litvina
I was really looking forward to the release of this book. I am already familiar with the creative tandem of the writer Alexandra Litvina and the artist Anna Desnitskaya - they create truly high-quality things. What are, for example, their "History of an old apartment" and "Metro on the ground and underground. The history of the railway in pictures”. The books are so talented that even adults are delighted.
And now they have made together "Transsib: the train departs" - about the famous Trans-Siberian Railway, which beckons all lovers of travel. The book is also valuable because the residents of the cities through which the train passes have made their comments. Surely your children have never heard of these, so reading is also informative.
When this book appeared in our library, we immediately called the guys, spread a roll of wallpaper and together drew a path from Moscow to Vladivostok. At the same time, we read out travel tips, historical facts, comments from local residents from this wonderful book.
"Without a family" by Hector Malo
The novel Without a Family, written in 1878 by Hector Malo, is a classic of French literature. This is the story of eight-year-old Remy - all the hardships that only exist in this world fell on him. The novel of my childhood, it is still kept in my home library. When I read it to my children, they wondered how an eight-year-old boy copes with such tests that not every adult can do. Together with Remi, you will live difficult moments. Don't be surprised if the book makes your kids cry - there are some really touching moments. Compassion is very important in today's world.
Teenagers
"The Voice" by Daria Dotsuk
Literature for teenagers is now very close to me, since I work a lot with them. I can say that today there is a lot of very good and high-quality literature written in a language understandable for modern children. And the topics are all the same as in classical literature: friendship, love, relationships with parents, betrayal, and so on.
One of these books is "The Voice" by modern writer Daria Dotsuk. This work was once chosen by the participants of the Literary Manicure project, where we paint our nails with young readers of our library and discuss the book in a relaxed atmosphere. The topics covered in the book are not easy, and at first we even doubted that we had made the right choice: terrorism, panic attacks are serious.
The author herself agreed to participate in our “Literary Manicure”. Daria was able to explain that such topics relate, at least indirectly, to everyone. She is an excellent psychologist, and our conversation turned out to be very interesting - none of the participating girls remained silent, everyone wanted to speak out, and this is very important. A bonus to the book is a list of recommended literature that you will certainly want to read.
"Tim Thaler, or Traded Laughter" by James Crews
The book by German writer James Crews was republished in 2018, it is really good and relevant at all times. I love her since my youth. When my children read this book, I was not surprised that they also liked it very much, and we discussed it together.
It helps readers to correctly prioritize, because life is not as simple as it seems. Sometimes a teenager wants to easily and quickly solve all problems, without assessing the risks and consequences, and the decision is not always correct. Tim Thaler's story is proof of this. The plot is very interesting: an orphan Tim lives with his stepmother and her son, he is unhappy. Only horse racing can make his life a little more joyful. Once there he meets a mysterious gentleman who offers him a deal: Tim must give him his joyous laugh in exchange for the ability to win any bet.
For more excellent books verified by readers of children's libraries and their staff, see the Librarian Tips section.
